This is a philosophical pondering, so probably equal parts tech and chat – likely to be long-winded…
As I move at a sloth’s pace toward getting my Cruisers back on the road, I have been contemplating what to do with the various third members and axle housings I have sitting around. I am thinking about what would be best for each Cruiser, and how to accomplish any moves in the least amount of effort and downtime. Also, given how long it takes me to complete projects on my Cruisers, it is likely that the ideas posted in this thread will not translate into action any time soon…
I have 2 Cruisers:
I have extra parts:
So I am thinking it would make sense to get the ARB into the front of the 40, and use it, as I am not likely to need it in the front of the Pig. Do I put the 60 series knuckles on the front of the 40 as well?
Or should I ARB the rear of the Pig?
Would it be easiest/most convenient to build the front housing off the Pig w/ the 60 series knuckles and transplant to the 40? If I do that I have to pull apart the front axle on the Pig to extract the ARB to move to the 40.
Or I could rebuild the front housing that was originally on the Pig with the 60 series knuckles/birfs/discs and lock-outs and just drop the front axle out of the Pig when I have the spare housing built and ready to swap.
I also wonder about trying to rotate one, or both, of the front 3rds to the rear since they probably have so few miles (under power) on them vs. the rears.
I do not know enough about the differences between ’74, ’76 and ’78 front brake line routing to know how much of a hassle it would be to move the front housings around between vehicles vs. swapping 3rds and knuckles.
IIRC, there is a blue-ish colored gear oil in the housing with the ARB. Is this correct for ARB? Where do I get more?
The knuckles on the Pig are weeping, and I do wonder if Ben (or whomever) centered the passenger side knuckle when he installed the Aqualu steering arm.
When I pull the spare '74 housing apart I should be able to put those steering arms on the '76 knuckles w/o issue, correct? That way I can rotate the Aqualu arm off...
Anyone know what that blue-ish color gear oil in the front might be? I am guessing some kind of synthetic.
It does not look like ARB is too particular about gear oil, as long as it does not have additives for LSD in it (Mobil1): http://arbusa.wordpress.com/frequent...ns/air-locker/
I figure it has been in there since Ben rolled his Pig, and it will have to get drained anyway when I pull the ARB out...
Anyone have a favorite oil for ARB?
When I do put the original front 3rd back in Pig, that will be a good time to put the long-body ASCO lockouts on.
'74 knuckles have a smaller bolt pattern than '76 and '78, yes?
At first I thought I would put the 60 knuckles and brakes under the 40, along w/ the ARB, but I am thinking that the Pig is definitely heavier than the 40 and might benefit from having the 60 brakes instead, plus the steering arms from a 60 are probably more appropriate for a 55 (thinking back to that article in the TT about Ackerman Angle from a few years back).
Then I had some thoughts about the housing that was under the Pig and remembered that in order to finish the 60 series PS, we put on the F-250 shock towers, which also meant that we had to center the shock mounts on the housing. So the housing under the Pig will stay put, making for fewer iterations to consider.
What would you do? Again, at this point this is a mental exercise to simply arrive at the best combo of components for the individual vehicle with the fewest steps, and minimal amount of down-time.
As I move at a sloth’s pace toward getting my Cruisers back on the road, I have been contemplating what to do with the various third members and axle housings I have sitting around. I am thinking about what would be best for each Cruiser, and how to accomplish any moves in the least amount of effort and downtime. Also, given how long it takes me to complete projects on my Cruisers, it is likely that the ideas posted in this thread will not translate into action any time soon…
I have 2 Cruisers:
- ’78 40 w/ lift (4 inch) and 33x12.5 MTs. Not a crazy rig, but not bad either. I damaged the original rear 3rd member trying to reseal a leaking pinion flange that had spun the shims. So I have an extra 3rd in the rear now with an Aussie auto-locker in the rear. Front axle is stock for ’78 with the long birfs and long body ASCO (Aisin) lock-outs.
- ’74 55 on stock springs. This is a little milder than the 40, likely to be a weekend Cruiser up the canyon with the family, pull the pop-up and drive-in movie duty. Rear axle stock. When I got this Pig we pulled the front stock axle w/ drum brakes and swapped in a front axle from a ’76 Pig (FJBen’s if people still remember him), so it has discs and ARB locker plus Aqualu passenger side steering arm for higher relay rod mount. Has the long birfs for ’76-’78 and Warn lock-outs.
I have extra parts:
- Rear 3rd from my ’78 – needs service/rebuilding,
- Front axle housing (complete) from the ’74 Pig with the drum brakes,
- 60 series knuckles and discs
- Short-body lock-outs (Aisin) to go with 60 parts
- Short birfs
- Long-body ASCO lock-outs (spare set)
So I am thinking it would make sense to get the ARB into the front of the 40, and use it, as I am not likely to need it in the front of the Pig. Do I put the 60 series knuckles on the front of the 40 as well?
Or should I ARB the rear of the Pig?
Would it be easiest/most convenient to build the front housing off the Pig w/ the 60 series knuckles and transplant to the 40? If I do that I have to pull apart the front axle on the Pig to extract the ARB to move to the 40.
Or I could rebuild the front housing that was originally on the Pig with the 60 series knuckles/birfs/discs and lock-outs and just drop the front axle out of the Pig when I have the spare housing built and ready to swap.
I also wonder about trying to rotate one, or both, of the front 3rds to the rear since they probably have so few miles (under power) on them vs. the rears.
I do not know enough about the differences between ’74, ’76 and ’78 front brake line routing to know how much of a hassle it would be to move the front housings around between vehicles vs. swapping 3rds and knuckles.
IIRC, there is a blue-ish colored gear oil in the housing with the ARB. Is this correct for ARB? Where do I get more?
The knuckles on the Pig are weeping, and I do wonder if Ben (or whomever) centered the passenger side knuckle when he installed the Aqualu steering arm.
When I pull the spare '74 housing apart I should be able to put those steering arms on the '76 knuckles w/o issue, correct? That way I can rotate the Aqualu arm off...
Anyone know what that blue-ish color gear oil in the front might be? I am guessing some kind of synthetic.
It does not look like ARB is too particular about gear oil, as long as it does not have additives for LSD in it (Mobil1): http://arbusa.wordpress.com/frequent...ns/air-locker/
I figure it has been in there since Ben rolled his Pig, and it will have to get drained anyway when I pull the ARB out...
Anyone have a favorite oil for ARB?
When I do put the original front 3rd back in Pig, that will be a good time to put the long-body ASCO lockouts on.
'74 knuckles have a smaller bolt pattern than '76 and '78, yes?
At first I thought I would put the 60 knuckles and brakes under the 40, along w/ the ARB, but I am thinking that the Pig is definitely heavier than the 40 and might benefit from having the 60 brakes instead, plus the steering arms from a 60 are probably more appropriate for a 55 (thinking back to that article in the TT about Ackerman Angle from a few years back).
Then I had some thoughts about the housing that was under the Pig and remembered that in order to finish the 60 series PS, we put on the F-250 shock towers, which also meant that we had to center the shock mounts on the housing. So the housing under the Pig will stay put, making for fewer iterations to consider.
What would you do? Again, at this point this is a mental exercise to simply arrive at the best combo of components for the individual vehicle with the fewest steps, and minimal amount of down-time.
